Backstage Problems for WWE Diva Eva Marie?

On Monday's edition of Raw, fans were forced to sit through one of the worst matches of the year as Natalya, JoJo and Eva Marie took on the team of Alicia Fox, Aksana and Rosa Mendes.

The bout was a debacle for several reasons. First of all, Natalya is the only one of the six that's any good in the ring, and her contributions were kept to a minimum.

Secondly, WWE road agents made the perplexing decision to have most of the bout focus on Eva Marie's exchanges with Aksana and Rosa Mendes. Yes, a girl who's had less than a handful of matches going against two women who make The Great Khali look like Shawn Michaels.

It was predictably awful. Man, Maffew over at BotchaMania must have thought all his prayers had been answered.

Even watching it, it felt like there was something going on here beyond just another Raw Divas bout, and apparently there was.

As Dave Meltzer, via WrestlingInc, mentioned earlier this week on his radio show, Eva Marie was "set up to fail" by WWE:

Dave Meltzer claimed on F4WOnline.com's Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE officials wanted to knock the confident Californian down a few pegs, since they feel she has an undeserved ego and doesn't realize how much she has to learn as a performer. Therefore, they had her sink on national television in hopes of making her humble.

Eva Marie, no Manami Toyota (from Maxim)

Controversy appears to follow Eva Marie around. Reports emerged in August that the model was "passionately hated" by most of the company.

Personally, I don't know whether or not the Total Divas cast member is really that badly behaved. It's possible, maybe even likely, that due to her being a newcomer to the industry, the 29-year-old is an easy target for many veterans in the locker room.

As someone who got a WWE deal and a major push without paying her dues, Eva Marie would probably have garnered resentment even if she'd been the nicest, most professional person imaginable.

Regardless, if the company has issues with the star, it might be smarter to deal with them off-screen. Throwing the Diva into live in-ring action long before she's ready might give people backstage a laugh, but it's not going the TV show any favors whatsoever.